Borderline personality disorder

Borderline personality disorder - Diagnosis

See your GP if you're concerned that you have borderline personality disorder (BPD). They may ask about your symptoms and how they're affecting your quality of life.

Your GP will also want to rule out other more common mental health conditions, such as depression. This will make sure there's no immediate risk to your health and wellbeing.

If your GP thinks you have BPD, you may be referred to your local community mental health service. Ask if the service has experience of working with personality disorders.

Community mental health team

Community mental health services help people with complex mental health conditions. They are multi-disciplinary so they have a range of professional supports available.

Members of the multi-disciplinary team will carry out your assessment.

Involving your family

The decision to talk about your condition is yours.

Talk to your mental health team about telling close family, friends and people you trust. Educate them about what BPD is and how it can impact on your relationship with them. It could make treatment more effective.

Many of the symptoms of BPD affect your relationships with people close to you.

Your family and friends can look out for signs that may help them to understand that you're having a crisis.

Your GP or mental health team can advise if there are any local support groups and services for people in a relationship with a person with BPD.